Women's suffrage was alive at the time of “A Jury Of Her Peers” by Susan Glasspell. Women marched in front of the White House with signs asking President Woodrow Wilson, "Mr. President, what will you do for women's suffrage?" “A Jury Of Her Peers” is believed to be a fictionalized account of a real-life courtroom drama that Glasspell covered as a reporter for the Des Moines Daily News in which a housewife was accused of killing her husband in his sleep. The wife was convicted in the first trial and overturned by a Supreme Court ruling. ​ Susan Glaspell, in her short story "A Jury Of Her Peers" uses gender roles to demonstrate the powers of women in a murder mystery and examine the change in the outcome if the defendant had a jury of individuals just like her. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayMr. Peters is the sheriff and Mr. Henderson is the county attorney and Mr. Hale, a witness brought together their wives, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale. Mr. Hale is the neighbor who found Mr. Wright lying dead in bed. Mrs. Peters, as the sheriff's wife, was given the responsibility of gathering personal items to take to Mrs. Wright who is being held in jail. Mrs. Hale is asked to join the group by default as a woman available to accompany Mrs. Peters. As the group travels to the farm, they notice that the women are riding in the back of the buggy. This, combined with the sheriff's comment that his wife is "getting scary", sets the tone that men are dominant over women. The farm is described as a “lonely looking place” where everyone is cautious when approaching the house. In the following lines the landscape around the house is repeatedly described as lonely. The use of solitaire has been attributed as a feminine description (Hedges, 93). Formal names are used throughout the story except when referring to Mrs. Wright, she is informal like Minnie. The familiarity of her name brings her closer to the reader. When they arrive at the house, the county attorney asks Mr. Hale "what happened when you found Mr. Wright?". Mr Hale stated that he was taking potatoes to market when he was passing the Wrights and wanted to approach Mr Wright about purchasing a telephone line together. He added that he had previously asked Mr Wright who had refused. Mr Hale approached the house and found Mrs Wright looking "strange" and told him Mr Wright was upstairs. It was then that Mr Hale found Mr Wright lying in his bed strangled to death. Mr. Hale's initial account was sympathetic to Ms. Wright, but with comments from the sheriff and county attorney, his story changes to match his colleagues' opinion. The men look around the kitchen and can tell that Minnie "lacked instinct for the farm" (Hedges 95), but the women disagree. Ms Hales defended her friend who she has known since they were very young and sang together in the choir. Women are ignored by men when they mention that the kitchen had things wrong in every direction. Men start in other areas of the house while women start to notice details in the kitchen. The messy fruit the men made fun of was the result of the room freezing overnight. The heater was not turned on to keep the room above freezing until itsheriff shouldn't have searched the house. The dirty towel near the sink is the result of the deputy drying his hands after turning on the stove. The county attorney kicked the dishes that had been stacked up for washing. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters began to sympathize with Minnie and the men's actions made them angry and changed their perspective on what motivation could cause a murder. The men search other areas of the house for what the killer used. The women play the part intelligently and appear in the main place where Minnie would have been every day. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale become worried when they find evidence that will harm Minnie. They discover Minnie's quilting, which the men belittle comments about upon returning downstairs. Dismissing something as mundane as quilting, men fail to understand that the stitching of the quilt has changed indicating a woman in distress. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters immediately know something is wrong and pull out the threads and she has redone the stitching so that if the men are smart enough to look at it they won't notice. Ms. Hale mentioned how Mr. Wright was a very stubborn, domineering and violent man. After mentioning information to Mrs. Peters about Mr. Wright, the bird cage without birds was noted. Mrs. Hale mentioned a man who came selling canaries. The bird cage symbolizes the type of environment Minnie found herself in. There was no phone in the house, she stayed inside all day doing household chores and her husband came home to ask and not realize all she had done for him. The two women examine the bird cage and see how damaged it is. The door was broken when the two women opened it. At first the women were confused and thought he had a cat, but there was no cat in sight. The two women sat down and looked at each other, thinking of Minnie. The women discussed how they thought Minnie was like a bird: “she was a bit like a bird herself. Really sweet and cute." Mrs. Peters mentioned how she wondered what had happened to Minnie and what had made her crazy. The women look in her sewing bag and find a box wrapped in ribbon that usually contained sewing scissors. Instead, it contained the dead canary that shocked both women. The caged bird is significant, because it symbolizes the relationship between Minnie and Mr.Wright. The canary had been strangled to death by something very strong and violent like Mr. Wright. Minnie felt she had lost company and felt she had nothing more to do with her life. Minnie decided to free herself from the cage she called home for so long by killing her husband, Mr. Wright. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale realize what they just realized. The two women solved the murder mystery that the men didn't even find a reason for what happened to the murder. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale feel empathy for Minnie. All the struggle Minnie had to live with by the time she is married to Mr. Wright. Mrs. Hale remembers how sweet and kind Minnie was when they were younger and sang together in the choir. This is one of the reasons why the two women cover Minnie, because of the sense of unity or sisterhood for women. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Susan Glaspell, in her short story "A Jury Of Her Peers" uses gender roles to demonstrate the powers of women in a murder mystery and examine the change in the outcome if the accused